Bronopol is a well-known compound, widely used in cutting fluids, in water-treatment and as a preservative in, for example, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and toiletries. For water-treatment, and in particular for the control of Legionnaires' disease, it and also Permachem, could be added to cooling towers.
Although these known compounds are very valuable for the purposes for which they are used, the amount which is added is often uncontrolled and may in fact be far too great for the intended purpose. For example, Bronopol is stable, under normal conditions, and large excesses of the compound may be used in a way which is ultimately undesirable from an environmental or other viewpoint.
It is therefore desirable to quantify the amount of the compound which is used, so that the amount can be controlled more accurately for correlation with the intended purpose. It is known to assay Bronopol by HPLC or GLC (using the acetyl derivative and electron capture), but both these assays are undesirably long and complex.